Leylah Annie Fernandez earns a trio of Tennis Canada honours

Montreal’s Leylah Annie Fernandez received a trio of Tennis Canada honours last week as the 18 year-old lefty was noted as the Female Player of the Year, Singles Player of the Year and Most Improved player on the women’s side. She was joined by Milos Raonic as the Male Player of the Year and Singles Player of the year and by Denis Shapovalov as the men’s Most Improved Player. “We would like to offer sincere congratulations to all of the recipients of this year’s Tennis Canada Excellence Awards,” stated Michael Downey, President and CEO at Tennis Canada. “2020 has been a very trying year, which saw the tennis season come to a halt for a few months, bringing tournaments and training to a standstill. On the women’s side, 2020 was a breakout season for Leylah, as she made waves on the professional tour and proved that she can compete with the best in the world, despite her young age.” Fernandez takes home the top honours for the very first time, having been named Junior Player of the Year in 2019. Her transition to playing on the professional tour full-time did not go unnoticed, as she captured the attention of the tennis world on numerous occasions, including her win over No. 5 Belinda Bencic at the Billie Jean King Cup as well as her run to the final in Acapulco. Fernandez also cracked the Top 100, coming in at 88 to end the competitive year.